Terry McMillan Talks About ‘Waiting To Exhale’ Sequel: ‘What It Takes To Get To Happy’

VIDEO: We all remember McMillan’s third novel (after Mama and Disappearing Acts ), Waiting To Exhale. It told the stories of four 30ish black women bound together in warm, supportive friendship and in their dwindling hopes of finding Mr. Right. Savannah, Bernadine, Robin and Gloria were successful professional or self-employed women living in Phoenix. They all had pretty bad judgement when it came to picking a partner worthy to call their man.  All were independent, upwardly mobile and “waiting to exhale”–to stop holding their breaths waiting for the right mate to come along…

Now, Terry McMillan has released the sequel “Getting To Happy”.

Book Description courtesy of Amazon.com: McMillan revisits Savannah, Gloria, Bernadine, and Robin fifteen years later. Each is at her own midlife crossroads: Savannah has awakened to the fact that she’s made too many concessions in her marriage, and decides to face life single again-at fifty-one. Bernadine has watched her megadivorce settlement dwindle, been swindled by her husband number two, and conned herself into thinking that a few pills will help distract her from her pain. Robin has an all-American case of shopaholism, while the big dream of her life-to wear a wedding dress- has gone unrealized. And for years, Gloria has taken happiness and security for granted. But being at the wrong place at the wrong time can change everything. All four are learning to heal past hurts and to reclaim their joy and their dreams; but they return to us full of spirit, sass, and faith in one another. They’ve exhaled: now they are learning to breathe.

Listen in as McMillan shares how she has drawn from her own life and so many others to create what is hoped to be a phenomenal book with lessons for us all.  As always, leave a comment or submit a video response letting us know what you think especially if you’ve already read it!